Reading at Boxcar explores fiction

Sunday brought a cloudy sky and raindrops to Bloomington’s streets, but from within Boxcar Books, things seemed a little less dreary.

At Boxcar Books’ First Sunday Readings and Open Mic series Sunday, guest readers Annette Oppenlader and Tony Brewer shared entertaining stories and poems with the audience.

Oppenlander is an avid online writer and marketing professional whose work has appeared on the Wall Street Journal and Forbes websites.

Her main interest lies in exploring the quirky subtleties of young adult fiction.

At Sunday’s open mic, Oppenlander chose to read a selection from “The Knight’s Wrath – A Max Nerds Adventure,” the first book in her new series of seven young adult historical fantasies titled The Earth Rider Chronicles.

Although the book is just a manuscript at the moment, a copy of it was requested by Penguin Books and Macmillan during the Algonkian Pitch Conference in New York.
Joining Oppenlander Sunday afternoon was Brewer, who brought his spoken word talents to the stage.

Brewer, a Bloomington-based poet and spoken word performer, also works as a sound effects artist and roller derby announcer.

Brewer entertained the audience by reading from his latest book, “Hot Type Cold Read.”

Following Brewer and Oppenlander, local writers and poets took to the stage to share their best writing.

The next installment of the free series will take place August 4 from 3 to 5 p.m.
—Amanda Jacobson